Originally a U, after purchasing the upgrade now a P.

This looks like a buy-up to a cheap P fare. I fly this route very often, almost always on U fares, and the cheapest I've seen buy-ups for is $89 - I see that price offered pretty consistently.

Round trip SFO-SEA next week

Both segments are W fare

$251 each way for the upgrade to F, or $502 to upgrade both ways

PS I found a big jet - both flights are 757's...

PPS I'll probably arrive at the N gates, but depart out of the new A gates at SEA. I may even use one of my one day Club passes to check out the new space...

It seemed really cheap to me, too, which is why I took it.

On my FCO-IAD flight in late May, I got an alert at 5am today that R was available. My waitlist UG to Business with miles had not cleared automatically, so I called in at 9am, and was able to have it cleared. So no need to buy up on that one. (Thank you, expertflyer.) Though now I'm curious if on either leg I will get a buyup offer to First. (Last year I got one for about $450 for IAD-Brussels at book-in and took it just for the splurge. Don't think it is objectively really worth it, but my inner kettle says it is fun to fly first in 3-class international once in a while just for the experience.)

I think there is plenty of evidence in this thread and others that you will likely get an upgrade offer to GF if, at check-in, space is available. I recently flew SFO-ICN and then NRT-LAX and even though I was booked into R class it offered the upgrade to GF but for nearly $2,000 so I declined.

Just booked a flight CLE-MCO mid-June. S fare. Offered $89 to buy up to F. One non-reclining 20A E+ exit row window offered @ $49. Only a handful of E+ middles left. E- completely full. Somewhat doubtful I'll get the CPU on this A320 with only 12 F. Would prefer to avoid the clamor of the kiddies going to Disney World in the back. For the extra $40 premium over the exit row seat which I would have bought anyway, I grudgingly accepted.

Looks legit - a V-up r/t is only $500 on that route. Must be nice...:)

DEN-LAS
No status
T fare
$69 to upgrade to F

Originally seated in 25A.

This was offered when I checked in 23 hours before my flight. E+ was being offered for $31-54 (actually, $44-54 for non-middle seats), so I figured an extra $15-25 was worth the extra bump. Only 3F seats available. I want to get off the plane as quickly as possible so I can start my Vegas vacation. :)

Now $304 each way, or $608 to upgrade the R/T.

Still 17,500 miles each way.

We need to start separating out the V-ups from the legit ToDs. And especially remove the HODs, or at least separate international BF/F upgrades from domestic F.

Or even start a new thread anew for 2013 as the offers drastically differ from when the thread began.

Agreed - we should limit this to "TOD experiences inside T-24", which is when they seem to occur most

Yeah, I don't really understand the parameters for what you should or should not post here... Hence, my post of a $251 offer for SFO-SEA.

What's the best way to clearly explain to posters what type of offer belongs here and what does not?

This other thread confuses me as well:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...grades-13.html

IMO it's any domestic F offer under $100 (some will be legit V-/Q-ups, some are real TODs), or any int'l C/F offer under $500 (like that wacky $179 one or whatever Y to C, or the $.10 from C to F, etc.). Those are the "broken" pricing scenarios.

Believe the intent was to highlight those situations where the fare differential was not supported by the published fare structure. Where the buy-up offer was significant discounted from the published fare structure. Also cases where elites and non-elites got different / disparate offers.

I guess I'll never post here because I never get those offers... :)

Is the only way to identify V- or Q- Ups through EF?

I may have stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night (OK, it was the Fairmont! :)), but what you describe is beyond my FF IQ...